It’s good to try new things. New foods, new drinks, new places, new clothes, new activities, new positions, new people, new music, new news, new beliefs and new ways of thinking. It’s healthy for the brain and the body.
When we get stuck in routines, we begin to live an automatic life. The mind learns through patterns: four wheels is a car and two wheels is a bike. Blue is cold, red is hot. When you get a nine-to-five job, life very quickly forms a routine. You wake up early, you get stuck in a traffic jam, you have a cup of coffee at work, you work, eat lunch, come home, TV on, feet on sofa and sleep. A.K.A boring.
By trying out new things you stimulate the mind. You develop an environment for growth, learning and fun. For the last five months I’ve been experiencing new things whilst traveling around the world. Never before had I done mountain biking, never before had I even ridden a motorbike (you have to learn quickly for that), last week I went Skydiving, and two months ago you would have found me swimming with sharks. I’ll share with you one thing, when you do these new things time goes much, much slower. Which is a good thing in case you were wondering.
The so called ‘nanny-state’ has gained a bad reputation because children are not experiencing illnesses any more. How can you expect to be a good fighter if you’ve never been hit before? How can you get back up again, if you’ve never fallen? You have to experience the lows, to realize and appreciate the highs. Not only does trying out new things give you opportunity to learn, it also allows you to make mistakes and to learn from them.
Mistakes are beautiful things, as I experienced when putting the throttle down way too far on the motorbike. Falling asleep in the sun without sun protection was also a costly mistake yet both times my lessons have been learnt. And that’s the greatest part of curiosity.
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.”
- Albert Einstein
No one wants to do the same thing every day; the monotomy of it is terrifying as David Eagleman explains in Sum: Forty Tales From The Afterlives. In his book, he describes a possible idea for an afterlife, whereby you relive all your experiences in carefully categorized groups: sleeping 30 years straight, sitting five months on the toilet, spending 200 days in the shower, and so forth. Imagine if this were true, how many days would you be sitting in a traffic jam for? Mindlessly reading magazines, wondering what to do, throwing up or even yawning?
Try new things because they make you feel alive. It’s not difficult either; go to a different restaurant, send a text to your partner with a compliment you’ve never said before or even just go commando for a day. Come on lads, it’s not like you haven’t wanted to try it.
Spontaneity related posts are littered across the forum (which if you haven’t already, JOIN), 12,099 people searched Google for it last year – so it is important to us. Take a day off work, and do something crazy. Travel somewhere, go swimming, running or dancing but do something new! These moments create stories, and stories can be used whilst dating. No girl enjoys listening to “I work behind a desk and my Blackberry 24/7″. I remember in Northern Thailand when I burst out laughing at an innocent question a nice girl asked, “what have you been up to?” because my answer was so bizarre,
“Well, for the last three days I’ve been hiking through the rain forest. I climbed up several mountains, swam under waterfalls, lived with the hill tribes and learnt to play the guitar. With several others, I trekked down river on Elephants, then when rapids appeared we created two bamboo rafts and rode the waters for several hours. Finally, after reaching civilization I visited a Buddhist Wat and meditated with the monks before finishing the weekend with an amazing Thai massage.”
Of course these activities aren’t accessible to us all so we have to make do with other devices, which as Ian Smith writes, this very much includes sex:
Simple Steps For Turning Good Sex Into Great Sex
Here’s a list of ten new things you can try now in order to get those creative juices going:
Find a new recipe, and get cooking.
Give your partner a new compliment.
Wear something you’d never dare to normally.
Do a different exercise.
Go somewhere you’ve never been before.
Call a friend you haven’t spoken to in years.
Go commando for a day.
Try a new sex position.
Stay up a few more hours then normal.
Watch a new film.
These are all things you can do but there are also new ways you can think. Yes Man by Danny Wallace is a great example of how life changing a new perspective can be. A simple change in how you think could alter your life hugely. Take a new look at things, say Yes instead of No, and No instead of Yes. Have a read of other religions, there’s a whole host to choose from:
Buddhism for Beginners
Christianity for Beginners
Islam for Beginners
Hinduism for Beginners
Even if you don’t take up any new beliefs, you will learn about other peoples belief’s and thus prejudices may be removed, making you a worldier man. Life is more fun when you’re doing things that are new, and the best part is sharing the adventure with your friends afterwards. So all I ask you to do is pick up a pen and write down something new you want to try, then do it.
